Hunter Armstrong (Photo Enhanced Games)
United States swimmer Hunter Armstrong has agreed to compete in the inaugural Enhanced Games on May 24, 2026 in Las Vegas.
The 25-year-old Armstrong has confirmed he will take on the men’s swimming field as a non-enhanced athlete and will not be participating in the Enhanced medical protocol.
“I am excited to challenge myself and compete in the first-ever Enhanced Games, and do so as a non-enhanced athlete,” said Armstrong.
“I appreciate having autonomy over this decision, providing me the ability to race as a natural athlete in accordance with all international testing standards.”
Nicknamed “The Magic Man”, Armstrong, 25 is a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA at both the Tokyo (2020) and Paris (2024) games and the former world record holder in the 50m backstroke (2022).
In Tokyo, he earned gold in the 4x100m medley and gold again in the 4x100m freestyle during the Paris games. Armstrong also earned a silver medal in Paris in the 4x100m medley. He is a highly-decorated world championship swimmer with multiple victories and medals to his credit.
Another American swimmer Cody Miller had confirmed his participation earlier last year.
Miller, 33 competed for the United States in the 2016 Rio Games earning a bronze in the 100m breaststroke. He was also a member of the record breaking 4x100m medley relay team that earned the gold medal.
Miller is the former world record holder in the short course 4×50m mixed medley relay, and the American record holder in the long course 100m breaststroke and short course 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke.
Other swimmers in the Games, that is panned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Federations, include Ukranian Andrii Govorov, Briton Benjamin Proud and Emily Barclay as well as Marius Kusch of Germany,
The Enhanced Games has sparked outrage across the sporting world. This new competition is the first in history to openly permit performance-enhancing drugs, and sporting bodies aren’t happy about it.
The organisers aim to usher in a “new era of elite competition” and with it “the future of human performance”. Founder Aron D’Souza, an Australian businessman, thinks athletes should be free to do whatever they want to their own bodies. The International Federation of Sports Medicine has challenged the Enhanced Games for putting athletes at risk.
